I went on a trip to Illinois this last weekend, just got back today.


**Before I forget** Diesel $1.92/gal @ Flyin J in Mathew Mo. as of today 11/03/2004 10AM

On our way up there, about 30 miles south of Mt. Vernon, ILL, at about 2:30 in the am, I was cruisin at about 70-75 mph. 3 Deer sittin in the middle of the road!

I swerved to try and miss the bunch, I did'nt want to take out my family cause of a herd of deer. [b]The truck handled PERFECTLY![b/] swerve left, swerve right, I probably slowed to about 70 when I saw them, compliments of the wonderful headlights we have on these trucks!!!!
I ended up catching one of the deer, it was a doe caught her on the passenger half of the bumper. She got caught UNDER my tow hook, other wise I'm sure we would have tasted he through the windshield, she bounced off my bumper, I did'nt run over her, just hit her. My wife and I were talking about what might have happened if I'd have been in my 01, being 4X4, it sat higher than this 4X4.

I'll post pics to my profile tomorrow. I will say that I am extermely impressed at the amount of damage caused to my truck after hitting a deer at 70mph.

So far, I had to replace BOTH the foglight bulbs, I guess the impact blew them. My airbag(s) did NOT go off. I have'nt decided if that is good or not yet. My bumper got adjusted about 1/2-3/4 inch UP, so my foglights are pointing up a tad, not too much cause they are still effective for foglights, they are just a little un-even now. The bottom portion of my grill got a crack in it, bent the crap out of the top portion of my bumper, the part above the towhooks. It bounced back, but left a line in that first radiator (I'm not sure which radiator it is for).


I give 5 stars for performance/handling/safety

I also replaced all 4 bulbs with slvaynia "silverstar" bulbs. 20 bucks a piece at autozone.

I checked and did'nt find any fluid leaks, or alignment problems with my rig. When I hit the deer it just felt like I ran over a seperation line in the pavement.

 

Not to much damage happens when a 7K truck hits a 150 pound deer the truck will always win ! Venison for dinner anyone? Seriously I am glad no one was hurt and the truck did what it should do. Hitting a deer can be bad news for the vech. and the passengers.

 

yea i hit one to truck 1 deer o no damage

 

Thats why i own BIG vehicles... My grandparents hit a cow in a caddy one night... (THey were in the caddy, the cow was standing in the road). The survived but the cow pulled a hollywood and skidded up the hood cracked the glass and went right over the vehicle. I would rather the vehicle go OVER the animal. Glad to hear no one was hurt

 

The airbag(s) should not go off in that case, airbags normally go off based because of the amount of deceleration your vehicle is doing, and like bhoeffner said earlier. When your 7K truck hits a 150 pound deer, the truck should not decelerate very much.

 

I woulda been pretty mad if the airbag had gone off and I wrecked my truck and caused more damage other than the little bit the deer did.



Deceleration makes sense. I guess those airbags have a pretty fast discharge speed.

It gives me an excuse to get a ranchhand now with the wife's permission

 

Some of you may recall a thread I started about aftermarket front bumpers. In it, I said the heavier the better if I remember correctly. Deer are the main reason why. Down here in Alabama, country roads at night in the winter are like deer freaknik. They're everywhere, just standing around in the street blocking traffic. I have very little sympathy for them when they just stand there, or charge out at you. I want a bumper so strong that the deer is just irrelevant. 1/4 inch thick steel would be fine. Whatever I end up getting, I'll take my mig welder and weld a bunch of thick scrap steel into it underneath and behind the front part to reinforce it even more. I've seen what they can do to a vehicle, so I figure if an aftermarket bumper prevents them from ever reaching the vehicle, the vehicle will come out fine.

 

These trucks can take a big hit and drive away almost unscared. I rear ended a Nissan 4 door after failing to negotiate a stop sign with a bed load of eucalyptus rounds. I braked and slid right into the car and after it came to a stop on the other side of the intersection it was converted into a hatch back . Only thing on mine was a slight roll of the bumper and license plate on the ground. No wonder they call it a Dodge Ram.

 

If you cant dodge it RAM it... IF that doesnt work back up and RAM it again.

 

That's about all that happened here, the top portion of the bumper kinda rolled a bit.

 

I'm glad you clarified that. I was picturing a big holstein cow driving a caddy.

 

So who got the deer? Road kill makes great jerky

It takes alot more than that to blo the bags, my employer makes the control module.

 

It all makes sense now. I was picturing the grandparent standing in the road.

 

A freind of mine drives truck and hit 2 dear at once abought a month ago. He just got a new Mack vision and only had mayby 12000 miles on it. He said he came over a hill at 60mph and there they where. He dident even have time to try and slow down just hit them. Needles to say the deer lost. 80000 pounds at 60mph made a mess out of them. It did a little damage to the truck but not much. He dident even stop. He said he was abought 10 miles from his drop and just watched the gauges till he got there. He said he must have drug one a ways cause the trailer did a little hop down the road. When he opened the hood a hoof fell out and ther was blood every where under and down the side of the white truck.

 

I ran ver a Honda Civic 4 door. The girl cut me off at about 45 mph she ran into my front passenger tire on the side of her door. My 04.5 2500 QC drove up and then over her hood and front tire as she turned hard right I fell off. It did the following damage: 1 scratch about 1/8" on the front quarter panel, rub marks on the tire/rim and scratched the head light cover. Total damage $25 for touch up paint and rim/tire cleaner. After reading the deer story above I am happy I hit a 2000lbs foreign car instead it sounds like it did less damage.